


Picture-perfect

by Harmonie



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, Bottom Zayn, Fingering, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Model!Zayn, Multiple P.O.V.s, OT5 Friendship, Oral Sex, Pining, Time Skips, Top Harry, Unrequited Love, photographer!harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-04-25 18:18:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4971406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harmonie/pseuds/Harmonie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry’s life was easy. He was a well-known fashion photographer, he was good-looking, and when he craved a little closeness, he had flings with other good-looking men. Perfect. Drama-free. That was, until a certain model walked into his life and made everything complicated. Well, Harry had to admit he had sort of brought this upon himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Picture-perfect

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YOURELIKECOCAINE](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YOURELIKECOCAINE/gifts).



> You were nice enough to not make your prompt too specific, so I took it and ran with it a little bit. I started this not long after Zayn attended Paris fashion week and I really wanted to write a model!Zayn au. I hope you like the end result!
> 
> Thank you very, very much to Jasmine for beta-reading this and for all your help! Also, a big thank you to Muriel for always answering my many questions and of course to all the mods for organising this!

The air outside was freezing and Harry was glad when he was greeted by a wave of warmth entering the building. He looked around and spotted a reception desk. The lady behind it looked up when he approached it. “Hi, may I help you?” she asked him politely.

“Yeah, I’m Harry Styles, I have a date with the one and only Zayn Malik today,” he replied, giving her a charming smile. When she looked at him in a confused-borderline-incredulous way, he clarified “I’m the photographer, I’ve been booked to do the shoot for Vogue with Mr Malik.”

The receptionist – Clare, her name tag read – laughed, checked something in the papers in front of her and pointed him in the direction of the elevators. “Third floor, to your left and they’re in room 304.” Harry gave her a wink before walking over to the elevator with his equipment and pushing the button.

\---                                                           

When he entered room 304, he was greeted by a bunch of people who worked for Vogue and he talked to them for a while, getting instructions on what they wanted for this shoot and explaining to him where he did and didn’t have creative freedom. Harry set up his equipment and took in the props the magazine provided. It was going to be a beach theme, which Harry had no complaints about, as it meant Zayn Malik would be wearing nothing but swimming trunks.

When Harry had got the call asking him to do this shoot with Zayn Malik he had been elated. Not only would this be a huge career boost for him, seeing as Zayn Malik was one of the most in-demand male models in the UK at the moment. No, if he was honest, he was also really excited to work up close with someone as beautiful as him. If Harry did celebrity crushes - which he didn’t really, but if he did - Zayn Malik would probably be his. The man was practically a god.

Harry heard approaching voices from outside the room, and he turned around to see none other than Zayn Malik himself entering the room with an entourage of people who Harry could only assume worked for his agency. A representative of Vogue greeted Zayn and then led him over to Harry. “Zayn, this is Harry Styles, he will be photographing you today.” Zayn held out his hand and smiled politely at Harry. “Nice to meet you,” he said and Harry shook his hand, making sure to give him a bright smile complete with dimples as he replied, “You too, looking forward to today!”

Without giving them further chance to talk, Zayn was being led away to get his make-up done and prepare him for the shoot. Harry stared after him, feeling a little star-struck and a lot amazed by the beautiful face that he had seen on so many magazines and posters and which, if possible, was even more breath-taking in reality.

\---

“Yes, that’s great, Zayn, just like that,” Harry called out from behind his camera. Zayn was standing in front of a green wall in just his swimming trunks, legs slightly apart, striking up a languid pose. “Could you give me more of a smouldering look? Purse your lips a bit, and tilt your head just slightly… exactly, that’s perfect!” Harry encouraged Zayn. The whole shoot had gone really smoothly so far, which Harry had to admit was in large parts down to Zayn being a) really professional, and b) a total natural at modelling. He was just insanely beautiful and had obviously been trained very well when it came to striking poses and his general behaviour on set. Harry was quite impressed. They had also got the chance to talk a bit earlier during a break and Harry was surprised at how gentle and soft-spoken Zayn was. He was also very polite, while at the same time remaining somewhat distant. Harry couldn’t quite figure the man out yet and he itched to get to know him better, see what was underneath his cool, collected front. Right now, seeing him give the camera a particularly sexy look, though, he mainly itched to take him into one of the empty rooms, take that swimming trunk off his delicious body and fuck him senseless until he was anything _but_ cool and collected.

\---

Harry was still packing up his equipment when someone gently touched his elbow. “Hey,” Zayn said when Harry had turned to face him. “Great working with you today, I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

“You too, I definitely hope we’ll get to work together again soon!” And, putting on his most charming smile, Harry asked, before Zayn could move away from him, “Hey, what are you doing now? Are you free the rest of the night? Maybe we could have a beer or something?”

Zayn eyed him warily, hesitating a bit. “You asking me out on a date?”

“Well, that depends. Do you _want_ to be asked out on a date?” Harry winked at him cheekily.

Zayn was still eying him somewhat warily, though there was now also a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. “You’re not beating about the bush, are you?” Zayn replied. “Alright then, let’s grab a quick pint, might help me wind down from the shoot.”

Feeling triumphant, Harry finished packing up the rest of his equipment quickly.

\---

Zayn was happy that they had settled on a quiet, fairly small pub near the location they shot at, hoping that he wouldn’t attract too many curious looks there. The dim corner booth they chose granted them some privacy and after Harry had gone to get them two pints, they were actually able to have a chat without being disturbed by anyone. Zayn found that Harry was quite good at making small talk, something he decidedly lacked the ability for. With Harry, though, chatting was easy, as he asked him lots of questions about how he got into modelling and if he enjoyed it, what his next jobs were going to be and what his family and friends thought of him being so famous now. Zayn was surprised that he actually quite enjoyed talking to him, as Harry seemed genuinely interested in him. Then again, he had heard the rumours about Harry. It really was a bit of an open secret in the industry that Harry was a notorious man eater and so he probably simply had the art of wrapping blokes around his finger down. Nevertheless, Zayn couldn’t help but succumb to his charm at least slightly. The way Harry had looked him in the eyes all evening, had sometimes ‘accidently’ brushed his fingers across Zayn’s arm, the way his face lit up and he beamed back at him when Zayn smiled. He was quite frankly fascinating. And Zayn hated to admit it – he was also really hot. Zayn hadn’t had sex in quite a while, not being the one-night stand kind of guy usually, so maybe he was thinking with his dick more than his brain right now. But he couldn’t help but feel attracted to Harry.

“So, Zayn, what do you say we have another drink at my place?” Harry asked in a low, conspiratorial voice.

Zayn almost giggled at that. “You’re really not one to pussyfoot around, are you?”

Harry beamed at him. “Not really. Look, cards on the table, I think you’re beautiful and super hot, and I’d love it if you wanted to come back to my place, have some fun, no strings attached.

Zayn hesitated for a moment, reason fighting instinct, then said, “Alright, let’s go.”

\---

Zayn didn’t have any clue what had made him agree to this. This was not what he usually did, at all. He didn’t like one-night stands, rather longed for steadiness and commitment. But he hadn’t had any luck in that department in recent years, which, he knew, was in large part due to his inability to trust people enough. He did trust his family and close friends, of course, but strangers were a different matter. Once he had had to realise that he was now famous to the point where people recognised him on the streets everywhere, he gradually lost his ability to trust strangers’ intentions, never knowing what it was they really wanted from him. So maybe it was Harry’s bluntness, his straightforward way of telling him exactly what it was he wanted from him that made him agree to this. Also, the not having had sex in a really long time probably had something to do with it as well. And the fact that Harry was incredibly attractive.

As they entered Harry’s flat, Zayn found himself pinned to the door from the inside, with Harry kissing him gently, yet insistently. They had started making out in the taxi already, both of them knowing where this was leading, so it was only natural to pick up right where they had left off. Harry made a noise in the back of his throat and started pushing Zayn’s jacket off. Zayn did the same to Harry, who started pulling Zayn away from the door and into the flat. They half walked, half stumbled their way into the bedroom, undressing each other as they went, so that they were both naked from the waist up with their trousers undone by the time they fell on the bed.

“Zayn,” Harry groaned, as he landed on top of him and started kissing him again, more forcefully now. His hands made their way down to Zayn’s trousers, pushing them down as far as he could without breaking the kiss. He started to palm Zayn’s cock through his underwear and Zayn let out a gasp. He hadn’t been touched in so long that the sensation felt more intense than he anticipated. He broke the kiss and started to undress the rest of the way, pulling off his shoes and socks and getting rid of his trousers and underwear until he was completely naked next to Harry, who was following suit and was naked a mere second later, too.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” Harry whispered in awe, making Zayn actually blush a little. He wasn’t too shy about his looks normally, getting so many compliments about them due to his job, but in bed, when he was naked with a hot guy, he sometimes found himself a bit more self-conscious than usual.

Harry started kissing his way down Zayn’s neck and torso, peppering kisses along his ribs and dipping his tongue into his navel for a second. Zayn moaned when Harry circled it around and inside his navel a bit, and Harry grinned mischievously up at him. He went lower, to Zayn’s thighs, licking the insides of them, making Zayn shiver and incapable to do anything but watch Harry with wide eyes. Harry slowly made his way back up, licking a stripe across Zayn’s balls and up his dick right to the tip, circling it with his tongue before taking just the tip into his mouth. Zayn closed his eyes, a feeling of complete bliss coming over him. He only opened his eyes again when Harry didn’t move. He was looking back at him, and Zayn was mesmerised, his hands moving into Harry’s hair.

Harry took this as his cue to start moving down on Zayn’s dick, engulfing him as far as possible before letting him slip almost all the way out again. Zayn had started panting and quietly said Harry’s name in encouragement to keep him going. Harry obliged and sucked him off for a few minutes, until Zayn was a writhing mess underneath him. He pulled off and stretched his arm across the bed to reach into the bedside table. He grabbed the tube of lube he kept there and then resumed his position between Zayn’s spread legs.

He glanced up at Zayn, who looked back at him, a slightly dazed smile forming on his lips. Harry coated his fingers generously before he gently touched his index finger to Zayn’s hole, moving it up and down and around it slowly. Zayn’s body was covered in goosebumps and he had trouble staying still, the sensation lighting every nerve ending in his body on fire. Harry’s finger finally stopped right on Zayn’s hole and he applied just enough pressure for his fingertip to slip in a few millimetres. Zayn’s breath hitched at that and Harry gave him a soft smile.

“Like that, babe?”

“Please,” was all Zayn could muster as a reply, and thankfully Harry seemed to take pity on him and stopped teasing. Instead, he carefully pushed his index finger further inside, as if he was testing how much resistance there was. Seemingly relieved that it went in fairly easily, he started moving it in and out of Zayn slowly. Obviously encouraged by Zayn’s moans, Harry bent down again and took Zayn back into his mouth, making Zayn buck slightly and shiver violently. Harry rubbed his free hand soothingly across Zayn’s hipbone until Zayn had calmed down enough for him to resume what he was doing. He started sucking again in earnest, while at the same time moving his finger inside Zayn, crooking it every now and then. Zayn felt boneless and completely on edge at the same time, overwhelmed to the point where he could just lay there and let Harry make him feel, his hands still clawing at Harry’s hair. It had to hurt, but Harry seemed unfazed by it and Zayn couldn’t help it right now. He heard the little moans that escaped his mouth, but he couldn’t help those, either. He felt the tip of another finger at his hole and the next moment, it was pushing into him slowly, but insistently. It stung just the tiniest bit, but Zayn could really care less right now. He needed to come so badly, wanted Harry inside him, or for Harry to just suck him off until he came – anything to relieve this pressure building inside him. The fingers in his arse had started moving now, and Zayn whimpered. He felt full, yet at the same time not full enough, he wanted more, wanted Harry to fuck him already. “Harry,” he gasped, “please, I need more, please, want you to fuck me.”

Harry pulled off his dick to look up at him. “I will, I promise, let me just prepare you a bit more, don’t want to hurt you,” Harry told him softly. Zayn whined pathetically at that, making Harry chuckle, but he nodded and let his head fall back onto the pillow. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the feeling of Harry’s fingers in his arse, on the way they were stretching him open. It wasn’t long before Harry started to scissor them slightly and crook them again, moving them in and out while doing so, looking for Zayn’s prostate. He knew he had found it when Zayn suddenly bucked his hips forcefully, yelling out and grabbing the sheets to anchor him. “Harry, please, I’m going to come if you keep doing that, just fuck me already,” Zayn pleaded between erratic breaths. Harry nodded, smiling down at Zayn and he carefully pulled his fingers out and wiped them on the sheets. He moved up to Zayn’s face again to kiss him for a minute, before Zayn started to get impatient and pushed Harry away with a hand on his chest, begging, “Harry, come on, I’m going crazy here, please!”

Harry reached into the bedside table again to retrieve a condom and the lube. Zayn took the condom from him and tried to open it to speed up the process, but his hands were shaking so badly that he failed miserably. Harry barked out a laugh watching him, taking in the expression of concentration and then frustration on his face when he couldn’t do it. Zayn pouted up at him at that, but it quickly turned into a slightly embarrassed grin as he held the condom out for Harry to take. Harry took it from him again with a wink, opened it and rolled it onto himself before coating his cock in lube. He hesitated before putting the lube back into the drawer, opened it again, squeezed some lube onto the pads of his middle and index finger and then brought the fingers to Zayn’s hole to coat it generously, too. Apparently satisfied with his preparatory work, he put the lube back, positioned himself on top of Zayn and looked into his eyes, asking, “Ready babe?”

“Yeah, been ready for hours, is what it feels like,” Zayn retorted and Harry chuckled, guiding his dick to Zayn’s hole and starting to push in carefully. When the tip pushed past his rim, Zayn couldn’t help the gasp that escaped him, his eyes going wide.

Harry halted, looking down at Zayn. “Hey, babe, you alright?” Zayn didn’t answer, he was too concentrated on trying to keep breathing. “Zayn, hey, talk to me. Am I hurting you? Do you need me to stop?” Harry asked, a look of concern on his face now. Zayn shook his head, closing his eyes tightly for a second. Harry leaned down to place a gentle kiss on his lips, and after a few seconds, Zayn started to respond and kiss back.

Little by little, Harry rocked his dick into Zayn until he was finally seated completely inside him. He leaned his sweaty forehead against Zayn’s shoulder, the fingers of one of his hands gently carding through Zayn’s long locks. Zayn concentrated on the feeling of Harry’s dick inside of him and tried to remind himself to keep taking deep and steady breaths. He wasn’t used to this anymore, so it did actually hurt a little. Or maybe hurt wasn’t the best word for it, but he was full to the point where it was uncomfortable. But he also knew from experience that this feeling didn’t last, so he urged Harry on with a quiet “Harry, move, please.”

Harry complied and started rocking his hips into Zayn’s, gently at first but gaining speed steadily. Zayn wrapped his legs around Harry’s waist and held onto his shoulders and back. Harry looked down at him, smiled and pushed the sweaty hair off Zayn’s forehead with one hand. He leaned down and coaxed Zayn’s mouth open with his lips. They kissed for a long time, while Harry kept pumping his dick in and out of Zayn. It felt strangely intimate, considering they had only met earlier that day, and yet Zayn couldn’t bring himself to question it right then. It felt good, great even, and he hadn’t felt this aroused in forever.

“I’m close,” he panted into Harry’s mouth and Harry just nodded, reaching a hand down between them and wrapping it around Zayn. He pumped his hand a few times and Zayn felt his orgasm building inside him. It took only a few more seconds of this before Zayn was coming forcefully, his vision going hazy, a loud ringing in his ears.

When he came back to, Harry’s face was close to his and he was smiling softly down at him, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. “God, you’re even more beautiful when you come,” he whispered. He held still for a minute to allow Zayn to catch his breath, then asked, “Is it okay if I finish inside you or are you too sensitive right now?”

“’S okay,” Zayn murmured, feeling too boneless to do or say anything else. It _was_ slightly uncomfortable as Harry started to move and pick up speed again, but after a few seconds he got used to it and focussed on Harry’s face as it contorted more and more the closer he got to his orgasm and went completely slack right after his climax. Harry collapsed on top of him and Zayn ran idle fingers through his hair.

After a few minutes of catching their breath, Harry rolled off Zayn, pulled off the condom, tied it and got up to chuck it in the bin. He climbed back into bed right after and laid down next to Zayn on his side, facing him. He ran a hand up and down Zayn’s torso and side, lulling Zayn into a state of complete and utter relaxation. “You wanna stay the night?” Harry asked in a low voice. Zayn was already starting to drift off to sleep, his eyelids drooping, so he just nodded and let his eyes fall all the way shut. He felt Harry getting up from the bed, and a minute later vaguely registered the warm wash cloth that gently cleaned him. A while later, he couldn’t tell how long it was, he felt the bed dip again and a warm arm wrap around him, before he finally succumbed to sleep.

\---

Zayn woke up to a hand shaking his shoulder. At first this fact didn’t really register, until there was a voice as well, telling him, “Zayn. Zayn, wake up, your phone is ringing.”

“Jus’ ignore it,” Zayn mumbled and turned around to go back to sleep.

“Zayn, I really think you should get this, the person has been trying to reach you for the last ten minutes. Which is fascinating in itself, you know, the fact that this hasn’t woken you up. Seriously, you sleep like the dead. But no, come on, it’s driving me insane, because, you know, I actually sleep like a normal person and the incessant ringing of a phone actually keeps me from going back to sleep,” the voice rambled on. Zayn groaned and turned over again, facing the voice. He opened his eyes a crack and Harry grinned down at him like the Cheshire Cat. “Morning Sunshine,” he teased and Zayn pulled the covers over his head.

The last night started to come back to Zayn slowly now. He had actually gone home with Harry Styles. That realisation finally woke him up for good. He pulled the blanket down so that he could look at Harry again. “We hooked up,” he simply said.

“Wow, you’re a right genius in the morning, aren’t you?” Harry laughed at him. Zayn didn’t laugh.

“I don’t do flings, and if your reputation is anything to go by, it’s everything you ever do.”

“Hey now, you didn’t seem too unhappy last night.” Harry gave him another one of his cheeky grins. Zayn found it adorable, but he was still annoyed at himself for succumbing to his primitive instincts that easily. Couldn’t he at least have picked someone who wasn’t such a notorious man whore?

The ringing of the phone pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked around for the source of the noise. Harry handed him his phone and he gave him a nod in thanks. He looked at the screen and saw that it was Louis calling. He also noticed that there were 6 missed calls from Louis, a guilty feeling settling in his stomach. “Hi, Lou, sorry I haven’t been answering my phone,” he picked up the call.

“Where the hell are you?” Louis all but shouted at him. “Not to sound like an overbearing parent, but I’ve been worried sick, you haven’t come home all night! Don’t pull shit like that on me, mate!”

“Yeah, sorry.” Zayn rubbed his neck sheepishly. “I went out for drinks after the shoot and ended up crashing at someone’s place.”

“Ooooh!” Louis whistled. “A nice someone?” He could practically hear him grinning through the phone.

“Um, well, I guess. Listen, Lou, can we maybe talk later? I’ll be home in an hour or so.”

“Oh, take your time, love. If you wanna go for round two, or three or whatever you’re on, by all means, don’t let me stop you,” Louis cackled. “I’ll be waiting and I want details, lover boy.”

“Shut it, Lou.” Zayn had to smile fondly at his friend’s and flat mate’s enthusiasm despite himself. “Okay, I gotta go now, but I’ll see you in a bit, alright?”

“Later mate,” Louis sing-songed before hanging up the phone.

When Zayn looked up from his phone again, Harry was eyeing him curiously. “You didn’t cheat on someone with me, did you?”

“What?” Zayn all but shouted, shocked at the suggestion. “No, of course not! I’d never do that!”

“Okay, glad to hear it,” Harry responded, chuckling a bit at the outraged expression on Zayn’s face. “So who was it, then?”

“That’s really none of your business, is it?” Zayn snapped. At the taken aback expression on Harry’s face, he softened his tone and offered, “Louis. He’s my flat mate and one of my best friends. He was just worried because normally we at least drop each other a quick line when we sleep somewhere else or something. Didn’t really think about that yesterday.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Harry said, grinning brightly at him. Damn his cute little dimples, Zayn thought, he really was an attractive devil. No wonder he managed to get so many blokes into bed. Great, and now he was another one on that long list. He’d never felt more special…

“Look, Harry, I gotta go.”

“Hey, how about a cup of coffee - or tea, if you prefer that - before you go?”

“Thanks, Harry, but I really have to get going,” Zayn responded without really looking at him, already pulling on his trousers, then started looking around for the rest of his clothes that lay strewn all around Harry’s bedroom and hallway. Harry watched him from the bed for a bit, then got up and helped him gather his things. When Zayn had finished getting dressed, he turned to Harry. “Okay, so… I guess I’ll probably see you around at one of my next shoots or something.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Harry responded, a somewhat questioning tone to his voice now. “Look, Zayn, I didn’t do anything against your will last night, did I?”

Zayn looked up at him at that. “No. No, of course not. Sorry, look, it’s not your fault, I’m just tired and a bit disappointed in myself for agreeing to this, I guess. This is not something I do. But I guess it happened, nothing I can do about it. It was a mistake, and I’d be more than grateful if this could stay between the two of us?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’m not going to go bragging with the fact that I pulled the famous Zayn Malik, if that’s what you fear,” Harry responded earnestly.

“Thank you. Okay, I really have to be off now.” Zayn gave him a tight smile. “See you around.”

\---

“I don’t know, Lou, it’s not that I planned this or anything... I honestly have no idea what possessed me.” Zayn and Louis were sitting at their kitchen table, with their yellow lab, Albert, sleeping underneath the table, right on top of Zayn’s left foot. Upon arrival, Zayn had been bombarded with questions, and Louis had ushered him inside to get the full scoop. “I woke up this morning and I just felt so stupid for falling for a guy’s charm like that. And not just any guy, he’s Harry Styles, everyone in the industry knows that he only ever has flings with people, he doesn’t do commitment. This is so not what I want, it’s the opposite of what I want!” Zayn buried his face in his hands, releasing a long breath. Louis laid a hand on his arm, smiling at Zayn sympathetically.

“Well, was he any good at least?” he asked with a crooked grin at Zayn.

“Lou…” Zayn gave him a pained look. Louis held his gaze and raised an eyebrow, until Zayn sighed and answered, “Yeah. He was pretty great actually. The whole night was pretty great. He was easy to talk to, and seemed really interested in me. But he’s Harry Styles, that’s just his way of pulling, right? And the sex, well… the sex was incredible, there’s no other way of putting it. I guess he has enough experience to know what he’s doing in the sack,” Zayn huffed out, smiling bitterly. Then his face fell again. “Am I just the biggest idiot, Lou? Me, who wants a family, kids, the whole package, and I go and hook up with the person who can offer me nothing but the complete opposite of those things? What the hell is wrong with me?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you mate. You just needed a little closeness is all, I figure. And to blow off some steam. There’s nothing wrong with that, now is there? You’re being too hard on yourself, you always are. You’ll find your Mister Right eventually, why not enjoy the time until then, too, huh?”

Zayn kept silent for a minute, then sighed again. “I get what you’re trying to say, Lou, I really do, but last night… I just don’t like the way I feel after a one night stand, you know? Like it meant nothing.” Zayn looked at Louis with big eyes, pleading with him to understand.

“It’s not for everyone, I guess, and if it’s not what you want, then just try and forget about last night, okay?” Louis got up and gave Zayn a one-armed hug, pressing a quick kiss to the top of his head. “Sorry you’re having a shitty start to your day, mate. I’ll make us a cup of tea, yeah? Liam’s coming over in a few and we can play some video games, distract you a bit, how’s that sound?”

Zayn smiled up at Louis gratefully, once again feeling blessed to have his two best friends who he could always count on to cheer him up. “Sounds amazing, Lou.”

\---

Zayn spent the rest of the day lounging about with Louis and Liam. He was really grateful to have the day off and to be able to spend it with his friends. His head was all over the place, so he would probably not have been able to concentrate on a job today anyway. He kept replaying the night with Harry over and over again in his head. He felt like an idiot for going home with Harry, and not only because he didn’t usually do one-night stands. It was more the fact that he had known Harry’s reputation very well, but had still fallen for his charm. And now he couldn’t stop thinking about him and what they had done at Harry’s flat. He tried turning off his head, knowing that dwelling on it wouldn’t help in the slightest, but he couldn’t really. He just couldn’t figure out what it was about Harry that had made his resolve crumble like that. He’d seemed so into Zayn, and it had made him feel so special somehow. And also the way he’d treated Zayn once they were at Harry’s flat… Was Harry this nice and gentle with all his one-night stands? Was he just a very kind and attentive lover in general?

“Hey, you alright, Zayn?” Liam’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Zayn turned his head to him and was surprised to see only him there. Louis must have left at some point and Zayn hadn’t even noticed. Zayn looked at Liam’s face and saw a mixture of curiosity and concern there, at the same time giving Zayn an encouraging smile. Zayn had known Liam since primary school and the two of them had been best friends right from the get go. As they grew older, they had supported each other through all the rough patches and emotional crises, but had also been there for all the good times. Zayn didn’t know what he’d do without Liam in his life and he smiled fondly back at him. Liam’s eyes were kind, as they always were, but he was also looking at him in a way that Zayn knew was his encouraging look, the one he gave him when he wanted Zayn to open up because he could feel Zayn getting lost in his own head. And Zayn loved him for it because sometimes this subtle encouragement was all he really needed in order for him to spill his guts to his best friend.

“So, I went home with this guy from work last night…” Zayn started, and Liam nodded, signalling for him to continue. So Zayn did. He ended up telling Liam all about his confusion about his own behaviour and his trouble with interpreting Harry’s. Liam, amazing friend that he was, simply listened to him, only asking the occasional question when Zayn fell silent. By the end of it, Zayn felt slightly drained, but he was glad to have talked about this to Liam, who – like Louis earlier – assured Zayn that there was nothing wrong with going home with Harry and having some fun. And even though Zayn still couldn’t quite manage to agree with that, it did make him feel a bit better and he was once again more than grateful for Liam’s unconditional friendship.

\---

Harry was running late. Traffic had been a nightmare once again, and he was slightly out of breath when he finally entered the pub, looked around and spotted the face he was looking for sitting in one of the booths. “Hey mate, sorry I’m late,” he said, sliding into the booth and simultaneously taking off his coat.

“No worries,” Niall replied, grinning at his friend. “Got stuck in traffic, I assume?”

“London traffic is the worst, especially at this time of day, when everyone is off from work.” Harry had finally managed to make himself comfortable enough to focus his attention on his friend. “So, how are things? Everything good with work and with your lady?”

Niall smiled at that. “Things are pretty good, actually. I’ve asked Liz to move in with me,” he blurted out excitedly. “Sorry, meant to build up to that one, but I only just asked her a couple hours ago and she agreed and I’m pretty excited to be honest.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Harry grinned back at his friend. “I guess congratulations are in order, then. I’ll get us a round, shall I?”

After Harry got back to their table with two pints, Niall proceeded to tell him in great detail just how the conversation with his girlfriend had gone down and Harry couldn’t help but feel really happy for his friend. Niall was such a happy-go-lucky person in general, but Harry had to admit he had never seen him as content and just genuinely happy as in the last months, since he had started seeing Liz and it had turned into a pretty serious relationship. It was a little strange to Harry, seeing as Niall and him had always seen eye to eye when it came to relationships, deeming them too much hassle with not enough on the pro side to make up for it. Then Niall had met Liz and things had changed. He didn’t go out with Harry as much anymore, and Harry missed that. But he had to respect his friend’s decision to give this a try, even if it wasn’t something he could see for himself.

“So, what’s new with you, Haz?” Niall asked after he had finished updating Harry on his own situation.

“Well, glad you asked, Nialler. Guess who I took home last night?” Harry moved to the edge of his seat, waiting for Niall to actually guess. His friend just rolled his eyes. “Haz, seriously, you want me to guess? This could take ages, just tell me, mate.”

“Zayn Malik,” Harry burst out, realising he wasn’t patient enough for the guessing game, either. Niall’s eyes went wide. “No way!” he exclaimed. “You bagged a supermodel?”

“Not just any supermodel. He has got to be the hottest bloke alive right now, right?”

“Not exactly my area of expertise, Haz. But he is a beautiful motherfucker, I’ll give you that. So, was he good in the sack?”

“He was amazing! God, Niall, the things I wanted to do to him. And he’s actually a pretty cool person, too. Not quite like I expected to be honest, he was much more… well, sweet? I guess? Except for this morning, when he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

“Your morning breath that terrible, is it?” Niall barked out, laughing at his own joke.

“No, Mister Hilarious, it’s not. No, he just said that last night was a mistake and he didn’t want to repeat it. I’m pretty bummed, actually.” Harry finished, pulling a face.

“Well, you might work with him again, and you never know, he might change his mind?”

“Yeah…” Harry looked down into his beer, and Niall waited for him to speak again, but he didn’t.

“Why does this bother you so much?” he asked. “He can’t have been _that_ good.”

“I don’t know, Niall. It’s weird. I keep replaying last night in my head, I can’t help it. And not even just the sex part, although that was well worth replaying, trust me. No, it’s more that I keep picturing his eyes, the way he looked up at me and stuff, and his smile, you know? It’s silly… it’s just, you haven’t seen him in person, it’s like he casts a spell on you and… god, now I sound like a character from that frickin’ weepie you and Liz made me watch the other night,” Harry trailed off. Niall grinned widely at him.

“What?” Harry asked, suddenly feeling caught, even though he wasn’t sure at what.

“You like him.” Niall’s grin turned wider still. “Harry Styles, is it possible that you’ve actually met someone who’s left a lasting impression on you, someone you could actually be interested in?”

“I’ve only spent one night with him, Niall.”

“And yet, I’ve never ever seen you so flustered talking about one of your flings before. You were practically pining after him just now!” Niall laughed.

“Was not,” Harry protested half-heartedly. “Can we talk about something else now?”

Niall studied his face for another second, his lips still pulled into an amused smile, then indulged Harry as the latter started talking about cricket.

\---

**_Three weeks later_ **

The park was lovely at this time of year, Zayn thought. He loved spring, even though temperatures could still be a bit chilly. Still, the way everything was just starting to bloom, colours everywhere – it just always put a smile on his face. Albert also seemed to love it, jumping around in the grass and taking mouthfuls of the fresh blades of grass that were sprouting everywhere. Every now and then he would get distracted by a smell or a sound and go exploring. Zayn enjoyed watching him, seeing the pure joy in his dog’s eyes.

He had been walking with Liam in silence for a few minutes, both of them lost in their own thoughts. Zayn turned his head to look at Liam, who looked back at him and gave him a soft smile.

“How’s Soph holding up?” Zayn asked.

“She’s holding up great, man, I’m so proud of her. I mean, I can’t even imagine how difficult it must be for her just getting around and stuff, and she has to pee all the time, but she hardly ever complains. Man, can you believe it? One more month, and I’m going to be a dad. Who would have thought, eh?”

Zayn smiled at him. “You’re going to be such an amazing dad, Liam. You’re, like, the most supportive and caring person I know, any kid would be lucky to have you as a dad.”

“Naw, thanks Zaynie,” Liam said, putting an arm around Zayn’s shoulders and squeezing them for a second. Zayn rolled his eyes at the nickname, but let it slide. “I mean it, Liam, you’re gonna do great, you and Soph both.”

He was distracted suddenly by Albert growling low in his throat. Zayn looked at him and tried to make out what he was looking at. It wasn’t difficult to spot, a man was jogging straight in their direction, apparently in a manner that Albert found suspicious. “Albert, heel. Sit,” Zayn told his dog and Albert obeyed, still keeping his eyes on the stranger, though. As the man got closer, Zayn realised that he wasn’t a stranger. “Hey there,” Harry called as he jogged the rest of the way over. “Fancy meeting you here,” he grinned. He was dressed in expensive looking running gear, with a rather ridiculous headband in place to keep his hair from getting in his face.

“I could say the same. Do you always go for runs here? Strange that we’ve never run into each other before,” Zayn said.

“Well, I come here for my morning runs most days, but I’ve gone a bit later today as I have the day off and wanted to sleep in a bit,” Harry replied. “You must be the flat mate,” he said with a friendly smile, turning to Liam.

“No, I –” Liam trailed off, looking confused. He turned to Zayn, throwing him a questioning look.

“Oh, sorry, Harry, this is Liam, my best mate. Liam, this is Harry, he’s the photographer I worked with for the Vogue shoot a while back.”

“Ah, Harry,” Liam said slowly, a grin forming on his lips. He held out his hand for Harry to shake. “Nice to meet you, man.” Harry took the offered hand and it was his turn to look slightly confused, but he gave Liam a charming smile nevertheless. “You too.”

Albert had apparently decided that he was being left out and thus proceeded to take matters into his own hand by running up to Harry and jumping up so his paws where on his chest, trying to get close enough to his face to lick it. Zayn rushed to pull his dog off, apologising to Harry profusely. “I’m so sorry about that, he’s still really young and excitable and that’s his way of saying hi, he doesn’t understand that humans don’t greet each other that way…” he made Albert sit next to him again, then looked at Harry sheepishly. “We’re still working on his manners, he’s a typical lab and doesn’t know boundaries sometimes. We’ll get there soon. I hope.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Harry laughed. “We had dogs when I was younger, so I’m used to it, especially as I was the perfect height for face licking as a kid,” he grinned. Zayn gave him a relieved smile back, but didn’t know anything else to say. He scratched his neck uncomfortably, wishing once more that he was better at small talk. Luckily, he had Liam who had got much better at this over the years, while Zayn remained the awkward nerdy kid on the inside that people only mistook for being cool due to his looks.

“So, Harry, do you maybe want to walk with us for a bit?” Liam asked Harry politely.

Harry tore his eyes away from Zayn at his question. “Thanks, mate, normally I’d love to, but I’m meeting a friend for brunch in an hour and I still have to go home and shower before that.” He turned his eyes back to Zayn, who was still standing there feeling slightly out of place. “But it was really great seeing you,” Harry added. He made to leave, then stopped and asked, “Hey, maybe we can have another beer or something sometime. What do you say?”

“Oh, um, Harry, look, I don’t know…” Zayn said, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably, looking at Harry briefly, then turned his gaze to the grass underneath their feet and to Albert.

Harry nodded, as if getting his cue, and quickly said, “Hey, no worries, it was just an idea, it’s cool if you don’t want to. Look, I really have to get going, but it was great seeing you.” With that, he was off and Zayn watched him jog for a few seconds before he turned back to see Liam eyeing him curiously.

“What was that all about?” Liam asked.

“Nothing,” Zayn mumbled, hoping Liam would just let it go.

“Didn’t seem like nothing. Why wouldn’t you go have a beer with him? When we talked after that night you said that he was pretty cool to talk to.” Liam reasoned.

Zayn had forgotten he had told him that. “He was. But I also told you that he is not what I’m looking for.”

“But he seemed pretty sincere right now, didn’t he? Asking you out again and everything. If you had been just a fling, why would he want to see you again? And you really liked him, didn’t you?” Liam argued. When Zayn didn’t answer, he went on, “Come on, Zayn, be honest here. I know my best friend, and the way you were talking about him back then… you like him, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah, he was really great and I mean, there’s a reason I went home with him. It’s not something that I normally do, is it? So that’s saying something. And yes, he was funny, and really nice, he listened to me, like really listened, and looked at me like I was… I don’t know. He made me feel good and wanted, so I went home with him. And yeah, the sex was amazing, but still, Liam, he’s a commitophobe. Caroline has told me so many stories about him. He never lets things get serious with anyone, and it’s bad enough that I went home with him once. I don’t want to be someone’s fling. I want what you and Soph have.” Zayn finished miserably.

“Never know,” Liam smiled at him sympathetically, “maybe he just hasn’t met the right guy, yet.”

“What, and you’re suggesting I’m the right guy?” Zayn asked incredulously. Liam shrugged and winked at him.

“Sometimes it might be worth giving someone the benefit of the doubt, is all I’m saying.” Zayn didn’t look convinced, but dropped the subject as they resumed their walk.

\---

**_Two weeks later_ **

“Wow, that’s amazing, yeah, just like that!” Harry shouted across the music that had been put on to encourage Zayn to move more freely. Not that he didn’t move well without it, but they wanted a certain aesthetic for this shoot – sexy moves, sexy looks – as per the designer’s request, and the music definitely helped. They had allowed Zayn to choose the song and he had opted for some R’n’B, which Harry didn’t particularly care for, but if it made Zayn move like that… The way he moved wasn’t even something you’d see in a club, he wasn’t a skilled dancer exactly, but he definitely knew how to move his hips and arms and how to give the camera his most smouldering looks. In fact, it was starting to play mind-games with Harry. He knew that Zayn was probably just being professional and doing his job, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Zayn was also giving him flirty looks in between that had nothing to do with his job. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.

Harry hadn’t seen or heard from Zayn in the two weeks since they’d last met, but unfortunately he hadn’t been able to get him out of his head. When he had got the call that a designer wanted to book him for a shoot with Zayn Malik, he hadn’t known whether to be happy about this piece of news or not. After their meeting in the park, Harry had decided that maybe it was best to just try and forget about that night with Zayn altogether, as Zayn had made it more than clear that he intended to do just that. But seeing him now, the way he moved, his inhumanly beautiful face and the looks he gave him – no, the camera, Harry corrected himself mentally; Harry realised that this was much easier said than done.

They finished up the shoot and Harry called Zayn over to have a look at the computer screen that showed the pictures from Harry’s digital camera. “There’s some really great ones in there, Zayn. Here, what do think of this one?” He showed him a shot where Zayn was bending over just slightly at the hip, one arm raised up with the hand resting atop his head, a sensual look on his face with his eyes half open and mouth slightly agape. Zayn looked at the picture for a long while, then nodded and gave Harry a small smile. “I really like it, it’s a great shot.” Harry couldn’t help but notice how close they were standing, both bending over a bit to have a better view of the screen. He could smell Zayn cologne and something that he recognised as Zayn’s individual scent, could see each of his long eyelashes individually, and he was torn between taking a step back from temptation and leaning in further to just plant a kiss on those lovely lips of his.

Before he could make up his mind on which option to go for, he realised Zayn must have noticed him staring at his lips. Zayn moved back slightly to put a bit of distance between them and focussed his gaze back on the screen. Harry shook his head slightly to clear it. He couldn’t take this. All those suggestive movements for the camera, his scent, the way he looked even lovelier up close like this…

“Zayn, go out with me again tonight?” He blurted out. Zayn didn’t answer, just turned back to him and raised a curious eyebrow. “I promise I won’t try anything! It’s just –” he trailed off, “I don’t know Zayn, I really liked what I’ve got to know of you in the last weeks, and it would just be a drink really, so…?” He looked at Zayn hopefully. Zayn looked uncomfortable now, and Harry could slap himself. Why was this so difficult? Maybe this was why he never allowed himself to get interested in someone, it was just too damn complicated. After what seemed like an eternity to Harry, Zayn let out a breath and directed his gaze back up at him.

“Look, Harry, we both know this was just a fling. And I don’t normally do flings, it’s not my thing. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed that night, it was great, exciting, but it’s not what I’m looking for. It was a mistake on my part, even if it was a mistake I enjoyed at the time, but still a mistake. And I make it a point never to make any mistakes twice.” Zayn made as if to leave, then turned around again and looked at Harry. “I’ll see you around, Harry. Take care.” With that, he turned and walked briskly towards the door. Harry was lost for words, so all he could do was stare at his back as he left. He felt like a puppy that had been locked outside in the rain. He was such an idiot. Zayn had told him right away that he wasn’t interested. And yet Harry couldn’t let it go. It must be karma that the first time in his life he was so into someone that he actually wanted to see them again even though he’d already gotten them into bed, that someone couldn’t care less about him in return. Classic Styles.

\---

Zayn was sitting on the couch of his and Louis’ living room, trying his best to focus his mind on the video game he was currently playing with Louis and Liam. When he got virtually shot for the fourth time in a row, Liam paused the game and turned so he was facing him. “Alright, what’s up with you?” he asked. Zayn tried to give a noncommittal answer and to get them to resume the game, but both Liam and now also Louis were looking at him unfalteringly. He sighed. “It’s nothing really. I met Harry again today.”

“Oh, at your shoot?” Louis inquired and Zayn nodded. “Did he say something to you or did he try anything?” Louis sounded slightly suspicious now.

“No, no. He didn’t try anything,” Zayn reassured him. “It’s just… he asked me to go out with him again and he said stuff like he really liked what he’d got to know of me and that we should just go for a drink and he wouldn’t try anything…” Zayn drifted off. “I don’t know, it sounded almost sincere, like, I was tempted to say yes for a second, but then I remembered what he’s like and thought better of it.” Zayn finished. He looked up at his two best friends who were both looking back at him with serious looks on their faces. It threw Zayn off a little, so he went on, “Come on guys, it’s Harry Styles, we’ve talked about this, I’ve told you what he’s like!”

“Yeah,” Liam responded, “but people also have the ability to change, and if he said he wants to get to know you better because he likes what he’s seen so far, then why not give him a chance?” His voice didn’t hold any accusation, and Zayn knew that he just wanted to help him, but he still wasn’t convinced, didn’t allow himself to be.

“Liam’s right, you know,” Louis chimed in. “I mean, everything you’ve told me about this guy basically tells me two things. One, he’s a Lothario, yes. But, two, it also tells me that you liked the time you’ve spent with him and that he seems to be interested in you. Zayn, honestly, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“I could fall in love with him,” Zayn answered quietly. Neither Louis nor Liam said anything for a while, just looked at him. Zayn continued, desperate to make his friends understand. “You guys know me, you know how easily I fall in love. It’s not something I can help. Once I’ve allowed someone in, they’re in. And with Harry, that’s the dumbest thing I could possibly do! I’d just be setting myself up for heartbreak!”

Both of his friends looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. “I get that,” Liam offered with a small smile. Louis nodded again, but both he and Liam seemed to sense that Zayn had given this enough thought and had made up his mind, so they let the subject drop and resumed their game of Call of Duty.

\---

Harry was out of breath. He had been almost running from the car park to the location where today’s shoot would be at. Traffic had been terrible as always and he was definitely already late, but seeing as this was a high profile shoot with a magazine that paid _really_ well, Harry didn’t want to leave too bad an impression, lest they never book him again. Also, there was the fact that the male model would be Zayn, and somehow that made him want to get there faster, too. He had stopped kidding himself and had had to admit to himself that he did in fact like Zayn, quite a lot. After his last shoot with Zayn, Harry had gone home feeling utterly… well, something. Something that wasn’t good and that he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but he hadn’t wanted to be alone and so he had gone over to Niall’s.

The thing about Niall was that despite his cheerful, happy-go-lucky personality, he was actually very perceptive. So it came as no real surprise to Harry that Niall picked up on the reason for his sulkiness fairly quickly after asking a few strategic questions. Harry had told him that he would be having a shoot with Zayn as the model that day, and he had also told him that he was planning on asking Zayn out one more time if the chance arose. So really, Niall just had to put two and two together. And he was the best friend Harry could wish for because he was really sympathetic, but also never allowed Harry to wallow in self-pity. So he had come up with the suggestion that Harry try to be just friends with Zayn, maybe inviting him to come out with him and Niall, and Zayn could bring along a friend of his, too.

At first, Harry wasn’t sold on the idea at all, because really, wouldn’t this just be pure torture? To have Zayn around but not being able to do anything about his stupid, stupid crush? But Niall had reasoned that Harry would be around Zayn anyway, due to his job, and that this way, there was a least the slight chance that Zayn might develop feelings over time, once he saw that Harry really wasn’t putting the moves on him. Harry had to admit the plan wasn’t too bad, although he doubted that there was any chance that Zayn would develop feelings for him. He’d been more than clear about that, on more than one occasion. But Niall was also right when he said that he would have to be around Zayn anyway and maybe having him as a friend would be good enough.

It was with this in mind that Harry entered the building and made his way to the room where everyone else was already assembled. He spotted Zayn right away, ethereally beautiful, clad in all white with a few black accessories for contrast. There was a female model today as well, and her and Zayn would be posing very intimately, and they would lose most of their clothes in the course of the shoot, he learned as he talked to the creative director of the magazine. Well then, Harry thought, I’m a professional, and it’s not as if I’ve never shot kissing or borderline-sexual scenes before. Piece of cake.

\---

How wrong he had been. By the end of the shoot, he was a mixture of aroused and fiercely jealous. He couldn’t believe how naturally modelling came to Zayn and how sensual he was when he wanted to be. The looks he had given him, or his camera, were just… Harry had to shake his head to clear it and he started busying himself with packing up his equipment in order to take his mind of the mental images of Zayn that lingered.

When he was done packing up, he looked around to see if Zayn was still in the room, but he couldn’t find him. He asked an assistant that stood nearby where Zayn might have gone off to and she told him that he was probably in the dressing room still. Harry didn’t want to intrude, but he also didn’t want to leave without talking to him, so he made his way into the back of the building where the assistant had said the dressing rooms were located.

He had to ask a few more people along the way, but eventually he found the room Zayn was in. The sight that met him there was not what he expected, though. Zayn had already changed back into his own clothes and he was sitting in an armchair, laughing at something a woman sitting opposite him had said. He knew her, although he couldn’t remember her name, but she was the head stylist for the magazine they had shot for today.

What surprised him, though, was the little child that was currently sitting in Zayn’s lap, babbling and slapping her little hands against Zayn’s chest repeatedly, making excited noises. Zayn focussed his attention on her and his eyes lit up when he looked at her and he started making silly noises back at her. The baby squealed with joy. Harry felt strangely warm and couldn’t help the smile that he felt forming on his lips. He stayed there watching them for a little while longer, then knocked on the open door to get their attention. Both adults turned their heads in his direction and Harry would be lying if he said he wasn’t pleased to see Zayn’s eyes light up a bit upon spotting him as well. It was only a second, though, before Harry could see a more closed off expression settling on his face instead. “Hey there, Harry. Come on in. I was just talking to Caroline, I’m sure you two have met before?” Zayn asked.

“Yeah, we have, but we’ve never really spoken, so it’s nice to meet you. I’m Harry.” He extended his hand for her to shake and grinned at her.

“Hi Harry, nice to meet you, too. I’ve actually seen quite a lot of your work and I really like the style of your photoshoots, quite… eccentric? But I mean that as a compliment!” she added at Harry’s inquiring look.

Harry laughed, “You know what? I actually kind of go for something out of the ordinary, so I’ll take eccentric as a compliment.” His eyes landed on the little girl again and he bent down next to Zayn to be on her eye level. “And who’s this beautiful little lady, huh?” he asked, smiling brightly at her.

“That’s Brooklyn, Caroline’s daughter and my goddaughter,” Zayn answered, smiling fondly at the girl. She gave him a gummy smile back, squealing again, no doubt hoping to get Zayn to play with her. Harry had to admit he had always had the biggest soft spot for children, although he rationally knew that as a gay man, with his lifestyle and job, the chances of him having a child anytime soon, or maybe at all, weren’t exactly high. And yet, he couldn’t help turning into a mushy idiot around kids, so not surprisingly, he found himself pulling silly faces at Brooklyn and _boop_ ing her on her belly until she was giggling and squealing to the point where Caroline and Zayn were laughing so hard that they were almost crying with it. Brooklyn was bouncing around so much in his lap, Zayn had to set her down on the floor in order to make sure she wouldn’t fall. Harry let himself fall to the ground next to her and proceeded to spend the next five minutes rolling around with her and just making her laugh as much as he possibly could. When he finally sat up again and looked at Zayn, he was taken slightly aback by the tender look on Zayn’s face when he returned his gaze. He smiled at him and Zayn blinked slowly, his soft smile widening.

The moment was gone, though, when Caroline stood up to pick up Brooklyn and Zayn turned his gaze to her. “Alright, you two, we’ll have to get going, Brooklyn’s dad is waiting for us, but it was really great to meet you, Harry! And Zayn, our play date on Saturday still stands, right?” She bent down to kiss Zayn’s cheek and to allow Zayn to also kiss Brooklyn goodbye.

“Of course, I’m really looking forward to it,” Zayn replied.

“Alright, take care, bub. And you, Harry.” She waved them goodbye with a wink at Zayn, closing the door behind her.

“Brooklyn’s really cute,” Harry said, finally getting up from the floor and sitting on the sofa across from Zayn. “You and Caroline must be really good friends for her to make you her daughter’s godfather.”

“Yeah, we are. We met through the job a few years ago and immediately got along really well. I was a little surprised when she asked me to be Brook’s godfather, but I was obviously really flattered that she trusts me so much. I love children and Brooklyn is such an amazing little girl, so I couldn’t be happier with her decision,” Zayn beamed. “But you’re obviously really great with children yourself, who would have thought?” he went on.

“Yeah, I’ve just always loved kids. Believe it or not, one of my alternative career choices was becoming a kindergarten teacher. I don’t know, there’s just something about children and the way they are so pure in their joy and everything, it just makes you happy to be around them, doesn’t it? I mean, obviously I’m happy that I became a photographer, the pay is much better as well, but yeah…” Harry rambled.

“You’ll just have to have your own kids then, I guess,” Zayn replied with a small wink and a lopsided grin.

Harry let out a laugh. “Yeah, maybe. Who knows what the future will bring. I mean, I definitely _want_ kids, but with my job, and everything really, I don’t know, but I hope… yeah,” Harry finished, realising he didn’t actually know what to say to that. Zayn didn’t say anything in reply, he was just studying him intently, or so it felt to Harry, and it actually made Harry slightly uncomfortable, so he decided to keep the conversation going instead. “So, Zayn, listen, I heard you loud and clear on the no-more-dates front, but look, I really think you’re a cool guy and my best friend Niall and I are having a movie night tomorrow night and I thought maybe you’d want to come, too.” Zayn’s expression turned slightly wary again, so Harry added quickly, “You can bring your friends, too! I promise, it wouldn’t be a date, we’d just be hanging out as mates. Look, Zayn, I swear to god I won’t make any more moves on you. I promised you that and I’m keeping that promise. But you have to admit we got along pretty great that night and were on a similar wave length, so why shouldn’t we at least get a friendship out of this, huh?” Zayn still didn’t look entirely convinced. “No dates, just mates, pinky swear.” Harry actually held out his pinky and it made Zayn bark out a laugh. “Okay, you lunatic, I’ll ask Louis and Liam and we’ll come over tomorrow night.”

\---

**_Later that night_ **

“Louis? You home?” Zayn called as he entered the flat. He toed off his shoes and smiled as he heard the pit pit patter of Albert’s paws on the wooden floor. He bent down to greet him, then went on into the flat. “Lou?” he called again.

“Kitchen,” came the reply and Zayn followed the voice there. Louis was busy typing on his phone, and he only looked up when Zayn had sat down opposite him at the kitchen table. “Hey mate, you alright?” he asked Zayn, then looked back down at his phone. He was probably texting his girlfriend, Zayn thought.

“Yeah. Exhausting day,” Zayn said. “Good shoot, though.”

“Uh huh, with Harry Styles, I know.”

“Yeah, about that,” Zayn started. Now Louis actually put his phone down and looked at Zayn properly. “He came to see me after the shoot and we talked a bit, and I kinda agreed we’d all hang out with him and his best friend Niall tomorrow night.”

Louis raised a curious eyebrow at that. “You did, huh? So what happened to ‘I don’t want to get to know him better because I don’t want to accidentally fall in love with him?’” Louis asked.

Zayn sighed, feeling slightly irritated. “I know what I said, Lou. And I don’t know what made me forget that when I agreed to this, but I can’t really take it back now, can I?” He immediately felt slightly guilty for snapping at Louis and gave him an apologetic half-smile. “It’s just that he was so different today, I don’t know how to explain it. He came into the room when I had Brooklyn on my lap and he was just so adorable with her, like seriously, you should have seen that. He’s such a kids person, like the way he played with her and made her giggle and shriek with laughter… that says something about a person, right? People who are that amazing with kids can’t be bad people really, now can they? And he said something along the lines of ‘we got along so well, why not at least get a great friendship out of this’ and that’s reasonable, isn’t it?” Zayn finished, looking at Louis almost pleadingly, willing him to understand what had made him go against his own better judgement here.

Louis nodded, giving him a fond smile. “Sure, yeah, I get it. So tomorrow night! Lads night it is, never say no to that.”

Zayn was relieved that Louis didn’t question his agreement to Harry’s invitation further because quite frankly, he didn’t think he’d be able to justify it any better. It probably hadn’t been wise to agree to that. After Harry had left, Zayn had felt his own doubts creeping in. He had felt so on board with this plan while Harry had been there, in front of him, that happy and warm look on his face. It was only later that he really wasn’t so sure anymore, but as he’d said to Louis, he really couldn’t go back on his word now, could he? And what he’d said to Louis was true, wasn’t it? He’d seen a different side of Harry today, one that had left him intrigued, and that he really wanted to see again. Someone who was that good with children had to have a pure heart deep down, and maybe the lads were right and he ought to just give Harry a chance to prove to him that he really wasn’t just _that guy_ that Zayn had reduced him to in his mind.

\---

**_Two months later_ **

Harry looked over at his satnav. It told him it would take another five and a half minutes until he reached his destination. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and concentrated on the street again. He heard his phone ringing in his pocket, but he was distracted enough as it was and figured he shouldn’t risk answering his phone while driving right now. Whoever was calling him had called twice before already and Harry figured it was probably Niall, wondering where he was. Harry hadn’t thought to call him to cancel their plans for the afternoon, he had just got into his car right away when he had got the news.

He could see the hospital in the distance already now and as he approached, he kept a lookout for a parking lot or parking spaces nearby. When he had parked the car a few minutes later and started walking briskly towards the hospital, he pulled out his phone to check who had tried calling him. It had indeed been Niall and Harry hit the call button. Niall picked up after the first ring. “Mate, what’s going on, you alright? We had plans, did you forget?”

“Nah, didn’t forget, just forgot to call you. I got a text from Liam, Zayn’s in the hospital. I didn’t really think, I just got in the car and now I’m here,” Harry explained.

“What? Why is he in the hospital?”

“He’s got pneumonia. Liam sent me a text earlier saying that they wouldn’t be able to make tonight as they had to take Zayn to the hospital. I texted back and he explained that Zayn’s cold had got worse and worse really quickly and he had so much trouble breathing this morning that they took him to the hospital and apparently he has to stay there for a few days. That’s all I know right now.” Harry had reached the entrance of the hospital and stopped, not sure whether he was allowed to use his phone inside. “Hey, listen, can I call you later? I’m at the hospital now.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Give Zayn my love, okay? Tell him to feel better. And that I’ll be over to visit him later if he’s feeling up to it.”

“Will do. Talk to you later, Nialler.” Harry ended the call and walked inside. He spotted the reception desk and quickly made his way over. “Hi, could you tell me the quickest way to get to room 783, please?” Luckily, he had had the presence of mind to ask Liam for Zayn’s room number earlier. With someone as well-known as Zayn, he wouldn’t be surprised if they had orders not to give out his room number to anyone, in case of fans or people from the media trying to get to him.

The woman gave Harry directions and he took off in search of the elevators she had explained were just around the corner. Once he’d found them, he pushed the UP button and waited. He didn’t like hospitals, they always smelled of disinfectant and the whole fact that it was full of people suffering was extremely depressing. But mostly, he hated the fact that he was here to see Zayn, hated the fact that Zayn was one of those people suffering.

Over the last few months, Zayn had become one of his best friends. That first night that Harry, Zayn, Niall, Louis and Liam had all hung out together, they had just all immediately clicked. They had barely watched the movie Niall had brought, instead they had cracked jokes all night and had got plastered together, Niall and Louis more than the rest. Harry had loved seeing how easily Niall got Zayn to warm and open up to him, bringing out a silly, boisterous side in Zayn that Harry had not witnessed before. It had been utterly endearing.

Niall and Louis were actually not too different in personality, both of them loud and joyful, so it was no wonder those two got along right away. Then again, Harry didn’t really know anyone who didn’t get along with Niall. Over time, Harry had come to notice that despite his cheerful nature, Louis could become vicious when someone disrespected his friends. One night, they had been out to a pub and someone, a very drunk someone Harry should probably add, had come up to Zayn and started to mock him, calling him a sissy and making lewd gestures at him. Louis had flipped and both Harry and Niall had had to hold him back from punching that guy right in the face. Harry had had a feeling that had Liam been there, he would have reacted less violently, yet equally as protective of Zayn as Louis. But Liam often had to pass on their nights out as he’d become a dad shortly after Harry and Zayn had met for the first time and even though Harry thought he was doing an amazing job as a father, it still took its toll on him sometimes and he would opt for a quiet night in with the family. A few times, they had all gone over to Liam and Sophia’s house, and their baby, Eric, was just the cutest thing. Zayn was his godfather (Was he just everyone’s bloody favourite person, Harry wondered?), and one night Harry had watched Zayn carrying Eric around, rocking him when he was getting restless and started whining. He had planted little kisses on Eric’s head and had mumbled nonsense words in his ear, and Harry had thought for the first time he might actually understand what it felt like to be in love with someone.

He thought that at some point Zayn had probably noticed that Harry had trouble sticking to his promise of being just friends, but he was grateful that he never mentioned it. There had definitely been moments when it had been a little bit awkward between Zayn and Harry because Harry would look at Zayn for too long or laugh too hard at one of his jokes that no one else found all that funny. But Harry couldn’t help it, he had become a lovesick idiot who was condemned to pretending it was okay to be just friends. He wondered how he could have let that happen, but then he thought back to how, over the course of the last few months, Zayn had proven to be such an incredibly kind, funny and loyal person once you really got to know him and how Zayn’s eyes would light up when he talked about something enthusiastically and how Harry would get lost in them every time. How Zayn did charity work to help children in need and how he acted around his dog, goofing around with him and playing fetch. How Zayn had become quiet and almost self-conscious the first time he had shown Harry his sketches and had told him that he would like to make a move into fashion design in the near future but wasn’t sure whether he was talented enough. How he had beamed at him when Harry had told him that he loved his sketches and thought he would be an amazing fashion designer.

He was so engrossed in thought that he jumped at the _pling_ and the elevator doors opening. There were a nurse and two other people in there already, probably relatives of a patient, Harry thought. He got in and pressed the button for the seventh floor. They rode the elevator in silence and Harry tried not to stare at the other three people, so he concentrated on the numbers that flashed above the doors. When they reached his floor, Harry got out and looked around, trying to figure out which way he needed to go. A male nurse came by and gave him a friendly smile. “You lost? Need directions?”

“Yeah, I’m looking for room 783?” Harry replied. The nurse gave him a scrutinising look. “Are you a relative of the patient?” he asked Harry.

“No, I’m a friend of his. His friend who brought him in texted me that he’s here.”

The nurse still didn’t look completely convinced, but he nodded. “Okay, follow me, I’ll take you to his room.” Harry appreciated this, although he was aware that this special treatment was probably down to the fact that the nurse wanted to check with Zayn whether he really knew Harry and wanted him there.

“Okay, here we are,” the nurse said, stopping in front of a room. He knocked on the door, then opened it and went inside. Harry hesitated, unsure what to do, then followed him into the room.

Zayn was lying on a bed near the window, with Liam sitting in a chair next to the bed and Louis sitting on the bed near Zayn’s feet, leaning back against the bedstead. “You’ve got a visitor,” the nurse told Zayn, a questioning tone to his voice. Zayn nodded with a small smile at Harry and Louis and Liam greeted him and waved at him to come in. The nurse nodded at that and turned to leave. Harry thanked him with a grateful smile, then moved into the room and stood next to Zayn’s bed.

“Hey, you,” he said, smiling softly down at Zayn. “How you holding up, huh?”

“I’m alright,” Zayn said, trying his best to smile back, but he mostly just looked ill and exhausted to Harry. It made his heart ache.

“Are they giving you the really good meds?” Harry asked and Zayn chuckled and nodded, but it unfortunately led to him having a coughing fit and Harry felt so bad, all he wanted to do was scoop him up and hold him close.

Liam gave Zayn’s arm a sympathetic squeeze, then turned to Harry. “They have him on antibiotics and pain meds, which also help to keep his fever in check. They seem to be helping, he’s much calmer now than he was this morning. He had us really worried, Lou called me at, like, 6 a. m. and he was practically freaking out because Zayn was all feverish and couldn’t breathe properly and stuff, so we brought him here right away and they gave him some stuff that helped him really quickly, which was a relief,” Liam finished.

Harry looked over at Zayn again and saw that his eyes kept falling half shut and he had trouble staying awake. Liam and Louis seemed to have noticed, too, and Louis looked at Liam and nodded his head in the direction of the door. Liam nodded, and Louis got up from the bed.

“Alright, I think three’s a bit of a crowd right now, and Li and I have yet to eat a proper meal today. Plus, Liam has to go home to see Soph and Eric, and I have to go take Albert for a walk, so we’re leaving you in good hands with Harry here, okay Zayn?” Louis asked, now standing next to Zayn’s bed.

Zayn nodded and smiled at his friend. “Thank you, guys, you really are the best friends anyone could wish for,” he said, looking at them both fondly.

Louis smiled and squeezed his hand in reply. “Rest up, mate,” Liam said, bending down to kiss his forehead, then both of them turned to leave. On their way out, Liam turned to Harry again. “His parents are on their way down to London, they should be here in a couple of hours. If you need to leave before then, give us a call and we’ll come back over to keep him company until then, yeah?” Harry nodded, then turned back to Zayn as he heard the door close behind Louis and Liam.

He felt a little lost suddenly, not really knowing what to do or say now that he was alone with Zayn, so he went and sat in the chair Liam had been sitting in next to Zayn’s bed. Zayn gave him a tired smile. “Thanks for being here, Harry.” His eyelids kept drooping and Harry got the feeling it was taking everything out of him right now to simply stay awake.

“Hey, do you want to go to sleep? That’s okay, I’ll just stay here for a while, if you want.”

Zayn let out a breath. “You sure? I don’t want to be rude. It’s just, I’m really exhausted and I can hardly keep me eyes open.”

“Zayn, you wouldn’t be rude, you’re sick. You need to rest. Is there anything I can do to help make you feel a bit better? Anything at all?” Harry asked, laying a hand on Zayn’s wrist and rubbing circles on his skin with his thumb.

Zayn hesitated for a minute. “Actually, if it’s not too weird, I could really, really do with a cuddle right now,” he said with an almost apologetic half-smile. “I mean, you don’t have to, if it’s weird, it’s just that I’m feeling like shit if I’m honest and I don’t want to be in the hospital and I don’t know… I’m just feeling… weird,” he went on.

Harry’s heart went out to him and he smiled at him reassuringly. “Always here for a good cuddle,” he said, moving to sit on the bed next to Zayn. He helped Zayn scoot over a bit and sit up slightly, so that Harry could get an arm underneath his torso. “Come here,” he said and Zayn lay back down close to Harry. He wrapped a gentle arm around Zayn, being mindful of the IV drip in his right hand. Zayn allowed himself to be pulled into Harry’s body and he rested his head on Harry’s shoulder. He felt small underneath the jumper he was wearing, Harry thought. The way he just melted into Harry, let himself be held – it all made Harry’s protective instincts kick in full force.

This was what he wanted, being able to be there for Zayn when he needed someone to be there. But was he actually the one Zayn wanted to be there for him? He had his friends, and his family, and he clearly wasn’t interested in Harry the way he was interested in him. For Zayn, this was Harry being there for him as a friend, nothing more. For Harry, however, this right here meant so much more. Being able to take care of Zayn, holding him like this, gently stroking his back when a coughing fit wrecked his body… it all made Harry feel so warm inside, and he knew that this feeling went so far beyond what friends felt for each other. He was in so deep already, and he didn’t know how much longer he could take this feeling, knowing it wasn’t requited, without actually going crazy. For now, though, he pushed these feelings deep down to deal with later, because this, right now, wasn’t about him. Zayn was so unwell and needed support, and Harry couldn’t be selfish right now. So he focussed his mind on Zayn’s steady breathing, every now and then stroking a gentle hand up and down his back and planting a soft kiss to the top of his head.

\---

_Thanks for coming by yesterday x_

_Sorry I was such a whiny baby, I was just really unwell :/_

_You never have to apologise for letting your hair down around me_

_especially when you’re not well_

_I’m always here to take care of you when you need me_

_You feeling any better today? x_

_Thanks, Harry. That’s good to know :)_

_Yeah, a bit, the meds seem to be fully kicking in finally, thank god. How’s Atlanta?_

_It’s good, the model I’m working with is shit, though_

_No one compares to you in terms of talent and work ethic, anyway_

_and looks of course ;)_

_Aw, I’m blushing :D_

_Listen, the doctor is here for rounds, I’ll talk to you later, okay?_

_Have a good stay in Atlanta and a safe trip back x_

_Haha._

_Rest up, okay? I hope you feel better. xxx_

Harry put his mobile down and sighed. He was glad that Zayn was apparently feeling a little better already, but it sucked that he’d had to leave for Atlanta and couldn’t be there with Zayn to take care of him while he was recovering. Then again, maybe this was for the better. For all his playfulness when texting Zayn just then, Harry was actually feeling quite miserable. He tried his best to act normal around Zayn all the time, to not let on that he was actually head over frickin’ heels for the guy, because he _had_ promised Zayn he would not try anything ever again and he valued their friendship too much to ruin it like that. But he had to admit to himself that it was starting to eat him alive, and he didn’t know just how much longer he’d be able to keep up this façade. But what was the alternative here? He could tell Zayn, but he’d risk losing him forever. Or, knowing Zayn, he might actually be understanding, sweetheart that he was, and try to make Harry feel okay about this. But that might even be worse. He didn’t want Zayn’s pity because he wasn’t able to return Harry’s feelings.

Or, he could try to keep ignoring his feelings around Zayn and simply hope that if he did that long enough, they’d eventually go away. He let himself fall back onto the bed he’d been sitting on and rubbed his face, knowing that none of these options were great – he’d just have to figure out which was maybe the lesser evil. And he had a feeling that he was kidding himself thinking that the latter was even an option at this point. He was too far gone. He couldn’t do this anymore.

\---

There was a knock on the door. Zayn heard Louis get up to open it and shortly after heard his and Harry’s voices in the hallway. “Come on in, mate. He’s in the living room. We’ve got him comfortably resting on the couch with everything he needs. The doctor said he still has to rest as much as possible, so we’ve made sure he’s not lacking in anything so he doesn’t have any reason to get up other than when he has to go to the loo. Liam had to leave, so it’s just the two of us. And I actually have to run out in a little while as well to, eh, get some things, so it’s really good timing that you’re here. Do you think you could maybe keep him company and have an eye on him for a while, make sure he’s not doing anything too strenuous, following doctor’s orders and stuff?”

“Oh, ehm, yeah, of course, that’d be great. I actually have the day off, I just got home from Atlanta about two hours ago, so some quiet time would probably do me some good, too,” he heard Harry answer.

“Lovely. I’ll go get ready then, and you… well, you go get comfortable with Zayn on the couch or something.” Zayn could practically hear the smirk in Louis voice. The traitor.

A second later Harry’s head poked around the doorframe and he hovered there for a moment. “Hiya. May I come in?” he asked in a quiet voice, his eyes trained intently on Zayn’s face as if he wanted to x-ray him in order to deduce his state of well-being.

“’Course!” Zayn answered brightly, hoping to convey by the tone of his voice that he was in fact feeling a lot better than when Harry had last seen him and that he needn’t worry. Harry went and sat down on the couch with Zayn.

“So, how was Atlanta? Apart from the shit model, I mean,” Zayn asked.

“Yeah, it was good, boring really, work, you know,” Harry said, trailing off.

Zayn looked at him and noticed that he seemed off. He looked uncomfortable, the way he was sitting on the edge of the couch furthest away from him, all stiff. He frowned slightly, wondering if something was wrong, but sensing that it would probably not be the best idea to ask him directly, he went for distraction instead.

“Were there at least any hot blokes you could have some fun with?” he asked. He didn’t know what had made him even ask this. It’s not as if he wanted to hear about Harry’s flings, he wasn’t that masochistic. He had vehemently kept himself from thinking about Harry having flings for the last few weeks.

As their group of friends got closer and they all started spending more and more time together, Zayn had indeed, as he’d expected, got to see a very different side of Harry than the one he’d shown him when he’d convinced Zayn to go home with him that first night. He’d got to know a warm and loyal side to him that was most obvious around Niall, and a childlike enthusiasm and joyfulness that he showed around Eric and Brooklyn. There’d even been deep, philosophical conversations over a bottle of wine that had left Zayn utterly fascinated by Harry. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint the moment when he’d fallen for Harry, but it had happened, just as he’d dreaded. However, it didn’t feel as wrong as he’d expected it to. And he even thought that, on occasion, he’d glimpsed Harry looking at him in a way that told him he might have feelings, too. But then the next moment Harry would act completely normal, sometimes even distanced to the point where Zayn was convinced he’d imagined those looks. This whole situation with them was a bit of a mess and Zayn couldn’t read Harry and really, the only thing he was certain of at this point was that he definitely had more-than-friendly feelings for Harry. So maybe it was just his jealousy talking and making him ask Harry about hot blokes in Atlanta. Then again, he wasn’t allowed to be jealous. They weren’t in a relationship, they weren’t anything really, apart from friends. And friends asked each other that kind of stuff, right?

“Nah, there were no blokes. I mean, of course there were blokes, but like, I mean, I didn’t have any fun with any of them,” Harry rambled and smiled at Zayn sheepishly.

“Oh, how come?” Zayn couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“Just, you know, not been in the mood for that lately. Think I’ve kinda outgrown that phase, really…” Harry trailed off, not looking at Zayn anymore.

“Yeah?” Zayn asked, one eyebrow raised slightly in question.

“Yeah,” Harry shrugged, “’s not what I want anymore.”

“What do you want, then?” Zayn inquired, not daring to even hope for the answer that he so desperately wanted to hear, but having to ask anyway. Harry’s eyes moved back to look at his, and they were pained.

“I want you, Zayn. I’ve only wanted you for months now, and it’s killing me because I know you are not interested in me in that way, and that’s okay, Zayn, it really is. It’s just that this has been eating me up and I can hardly think about anything else but you, your voice and the way you smile at me sometimes when I’ve done something funny or weird, and that night we spent together, god! And it sucks, ‘cause I don’t even want to fuck anyone else anymore because I’d just end up imagining you anyway, but I’ll never be able to have you, so I guess I’m just condemned to living a celibate life from now on, hoping I’ll someday fall out of love with you again!” Harry threw his hands in the air dramatically. He had got up somewhere in the middle of his speech and was now restlessly pacing the living room, looking at the floor and the walls and anywhere else that wasn’t Zayn.

“Harry,” Zayn said in a steady voice. Harry ignored him and kept pacing. “Harry!” Zayn tried again louder, and this time Harry turned his head towards him and seemed surprised that Zayn was smiling softly at him.

“Why are you smiling? This isn’t funny! Look, I know I’m probably being overly dramatic right now, but this has been killing me the last few months. I don’t think I can keep doing this, Zayn. I…” he trailed off, his voice going quiet, “I can’t just be your friend, Zayn. I’ve tried, really, I have, but it’s slowly killing me,” he finished, and Zayn was shocked to see that his eyes were brimming with tears.

“Harry,” he said again, gently this time, and reached out a hand to pull him back to the couch. Once Harry was sitting opposite him again, he pulled Harry into a hug and Harry immediately buried his face in Zayn’s neck. “Hey, babe, I’m so sorry, I had no idea that you felt that way,” he murmured against Harry’s ear.

“’s not your fault, you made it clear from the start that you weren’t interested in me in that way. I just had to be a complete idiot and fall for you anyway,” Harry mumbled miserably. He pulled back and tried to smile a bit, waving is hand around. “It’s okay, really, we’ll stay friends, I’ll deal.”

“What if I don’t want to be just friends?” Zayn replied in a quiet, gentle voice, looking up at Harry with a small, hopeful smile.

Harry gaped at him. “You- what- you don’t- ” he stammered, an incredulous look on his face.

Zayn closed the distance between Harry and himself and gave him a tender kiss on the temple that he hoped was able to convey his feelings at this moment at least a little bit. When he pulled his head back, Harry still looked at him incredulously. “What-”, he shook his head slightly. “Zayn, you-” Zayn smiled at him, a feeling of deep fondness overtaking him. Harry pressed his forehead against his and finally, after a minute of just holding Zayn close to himself, huffed out a laugh. “What kind of kiss was that anyway? Is that all I’m gonna get for declaring my never-ending love for you?” he asked, his expression turning into a smirk.

“Well, I would have kissed you on the mouth, but I’m sick, so that would probably be a really bad idea,” Zayn reasoned. Harry didn’t answer, but instead leaned in to softly press his lips against Zayn’s. Zayn closed his eyes and after a second, he could feel Harry start moving his lips in a gentle kiss. When they broke the kiss a few seconds later, Zayn opened his eyes to look at Harry. “Now you might get sick too,” he said with a little pout and worry lines across his forehead.

“Totally worth it,” Harry replied with a soft smile and then moved them a bit so that he was lying behind Zayn on the couch, spooning him.

“Should we maybe talk about this some more?” Zayn asked tentatively.

“Probably,” Harry answered, “but not now. I’m jet-lagged and you’re still sick and need to rest, so I think it’s probably a good idea to take a lil nap now. We can talk later.”

“Hey, maybe we can go to that pub again where we went that first night and finally have that date you’ve been asking me out on again and again,” Zayn suggested, feeling light-hearted.

“We’ll definitely do that,” Harry replied. “For now though, we’ll keep you safe and warm inside, so how about we cook together later and talk things out over dinner?” He planted a gentle kiss to the back of Zayn’s neck.

“Sounds amazing,” Zayn said, a soft smile on his lips. Harry kept his face buried in Zayn’s neck and Zayn could feel him breathing against his skin. He was feeling warm all over, the good kind of warm, and he closed his eyes for a second, thinking that he could get used to this. It didn’t take long before Zayn started to get sleepy. The corners of his mind were already getting foggy, and he gave up trying to watch the episode of Scrubs that was on TV. He closed his eyes, allowing Harry’s steady breathing to lull him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This was my first ever fic that I've written, so feedback of any kind would be very much appreciated! :)


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